Ladle structure



June 6, 1961 Filed Dec. 5, 1958 J. w. GRODIN 2,986,784

LADLE STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I/ I G l l INVENTOR. JACOB W- GRODIN FIG. 2 a ?'a/ ATTORNEYS June 6, 1961 J. w. GRODIN $986,734

LADLE STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 5, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l l I i )1} \w i i l l i l l Eggs 7 5 ATTORNEYS I JNVENTOR.

JACOB W. GRODIN June 6, 1961 J. w. GRODIN 2,986,784

LADLE STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 5, 1958 3 SheetsSheet 3 FIG- 5 I39 INVENTOR. JACOB W. GRODIN 71/, & rm,

ATTORNEYS United States PatentO 2,986,784 LADLE STRUCTURE Jacob W. Grodin, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The River smelting & Refining Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 778,377 6 Claims. (Cl. 2281) This application, relating as indicated to a ladle, is particularly directed to a ladle of novel type which is adapted to be used in connection with the various nonferrous metals, such as zinc, tin, lead, babbitt and possibly aluminum and all alloys thereof, for. controlling the flow of metal from a cupola furnace or other type of smelting furnace to an ingot and/or mold.

In general in connection with ladies, it is known that they are used as a. metal transfer means between a cupola furnace and/or pot and an ingot or mold. The cupola furnace, of course, may be of various design and have a port or other opening in the side with a metal pump or other device for filling the ladle continuously.

This invention, then, is directed towards a ladle of. this type which may have a long handle or pouring spout and be adapted to contact an ingot mold, which ingot mold may have a multiplicity of ingot sections, or it maybe in an ingot pouring mold which continues past a specified point and cools the ingot, dumps it and. continues to provide a new ingot mold at regular intervals.

The ladle of this invention is characterized by a pouring spout and. an overflow spout that pour back into the furnace. There are differences over the prior art with respect to the trunnion bearings and to the yoke on which the ladle is mounted in the bearings for the purpose of rotating the ladle and moving it radially inwardly and outwardly so that the pouring spout may be controlled in working with the ingot.

Ladies, in general, are adapted to control the flow of metal and to. try to prevent the dross from passing into the ingot. There may be or may not be an overflow device back in the smelter furnace. Accurate control of the flow of metal into the ingot is desirable and particularly at the identical pouring spot of'theingot. Otherwise, non-uniform results will be achieved, and each ingot will. be of a different thickness and there will be a different weight of the metal used.

This invention is directed towards a ladle which will remove the dross and accurately control the pouring of the ingots because of its rotational movement about a.

vertical axis and its ability to move in a trunnion rotati'onally and inwardly as well as outwardly so that the pouring spout is directed to the similar space on the ingot regardless of the exact arrangement of the ingot with respect to the. cupola furnace.

It often happens that a mold, possibly a square, will have a series of. sections, for example. The pouring spout may be moved radially across the ingots but because of the arc of a circle, it will pour further towards the center of the middle ingots. This is undesirable because it creates flow problems in connection with the molten metal inthe ingot.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved construction. of a ladle for molten metal;

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved ladle which is particularly characterized byits trunnions, with the trunnions being capable of moving inwardly and outwardly to control the pouring spout.

Another. object of this. invention is to} provrde: a. new type of ladle having a pouring spout and a dross discharge spout for excess metal and being characterized Ice in its control feature and rotatably moved as well as radially moved so as to position it with respect to an ingot being poured.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention then consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims; the following description setting forth in detail one approved means of carrying out the invention, such disclosed means, however, constituting but one of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be used.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the ladle of this invention shown in position in the furnace and pouring an ingot casting machine; I

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the ladle along the line 2-2 of FIG. 4 showing particularly the trunnion structure;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along theline 3-3 of FIG. 2 showing the trunnion structure;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the ladle;

FIG. 5 is a top schematic view of my new and improved ladle shown in position and pouring ingots;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top cross-sectional view of the pouring spout and ingot along the line 6--6 of FIG. 5;;

nace 10 having various types of gas supplies designated.

11 for heating the furnace and a lining for the molten metal shown at 12, as well as a stack 13. A metal trans-- fer pump is shown generally at 15 having a motor 16 and a drive shaft or other connection means 17 to the liquid transfer pump at 18. There is a discharge spout shown generally at 19 into the ladle designated 20, said ladle having a pouring spout 21 to cause metal to how into an ingot mold as at 22 in an ingot casting machine shown generally at 23.

The detailed construction of the ladle is shown in con-- nection with FIG. 2, where the pouring spout 21 is shown in dotted lines in the pouring position- The liquid level will be as indicated at 2'4, and the dross discharge spout will be at 25, and the level may be higher than indicated but, in any event, the pouring spout will be below the The trunnion bearings are shown generally at 26, and there is a handle forlevel of the dross discharge spout.

mechanical or hand handling of the ladle as at 27.

In the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 there is shown at 27 the handle which is attached to the ladle 2t), and the: pouring spout is seen at 21' in the center with the trim-- nions on the right and left hand, respectively, at 218'- and 29 in trunnion bearings designated 26. One of thebearings is seen in connection with FIG. 2 and it has an elongated slot 30' having a portion extending forwardly at 31 and a portion extending rearwardly at 32 on' either side of the trunnion hearing. A vertical slot is seen at 33 to permit the journal to slide down in. the trunnion into a slot. This permits inward and outward move-- ment from the point 31 to the rear 32, and some rota tional. movement is also permitted by positioning the journal partially forwardly and partiallyrearwardly. It will be" seen in FIG. 3 that the entire yoke designated 35 is adapted to pivot around its axis at 36-. This action is seen in connect-ion with FIG. 4.

In FIG; 4 in the dotted position' herein designated 20', the journal isforward into the forward: position 31' of' the journal. wardly when in this position.

This operation is further illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and I Patented. June 6, 1961,

Notice how the entire. ladle moves for-'- 7, where a schematic illustration of the pouring operation is shown. The molten metal passes into the ladle, and the excess passes out the dross discharge spout 25. The

pouring spout generally designated 21 can pour across a square ingot as seen at 37 having a multiplicity of sections therein as at 38. Each of these strips of ingots would fill the first section as seen at 39, and then each succeeding section until filling the last section as at 40.

Notice how the rotation of the pouring spout 21, as it goes from position 41 to the further position centrally as at 42 to the lower position as at 43, will have to move rearwardly, i.e., radially to the rear in order to pour at the same spot along the line indicated 44. This action is taken up by moving the ladle and pouring spout rearwardly on its trunnions in order to accommodate the pouring action. This action will further be seen in connection with the flow of molten metal into the first section 39 where it passes over the intermediate support 38 into the next succeeding section of the ingot and fills up. If in the rotational movement as shown in the center position 42 it poured into the second compartment, finally the last compartment would fill up, and it would back flow into the first compartment 39 causing various surge effects which make it diflicult for the operator to fill the mold to the same level in each instance. This action will be seen in connection with FIG. 7, where the discharge of molten metal is through the pipe 19 and fills the ladle 20, and the pouring spout 21 causes metal to flow to the ingot and the dross discharge outlet 25 pours it back into the furnace with any dross and liquid metal that may accompany it. Therefore, this prevents the dross from passing to the ingot.

The journal in this case is seen at 26 having a forward slot at 31 and a rearward slot at 32 with the vertical portion at 33. By this means if the ladle needs to be moved forwardly, it moves the requisite amount to a position shown at 47 to accommodate itself to the ingot.

In general, it may be said that this particular type of ladle structure may facilitate the transfer of the molten metal from the cupola furnace or smelter to the ingot and provides easier casting of the ingots.

This invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. A ladle structure for the transfer of molten metal from a furnace to an ingot, said ladle having a generally concave body structure, a pouring spout in fluid connection therewith, a dross discharge spout above the level of said pouring spout when the ladle is in an upright position, trunnions on said ladle and a trunnion bearing support comprising a rotatably mounted yoke structure having a pair of upwardly directed arms with a trunnion bearing in each of said arms having a horizontal slot and a vertical slot in connection therewith, said trunnion being received in the horizontal slot for movement in said trunnion bearing.

2. A ladle structure for the transfer of molten metal from a furnace to an ingot, said ladle comprising a generally concave body having a pair of trunnion journals on opposite sides thereof for pivotally supporting said ladle, a pouring spout in fluid contact therewith, a molten metal overflow spout in fluid connection therewith and having portions thereof above the level of said pouring spout when the ladle is in upright position, means for continuously feeding molten metal into said ladle, support means for said ladle comprising a yoke adapted for pivotal movement about a vertical axis and having a pair of upright supports, a trunnion bearing in each of said supports, each of said trunnion bearings having a vertical slot extending to an edge of its respective support and adapted to permit the trunnion journal to be lowered and raised therein, the lower end of each said trunnion journal having means to permit the ladle to be rotatably supported in said yoke for radial movement inwardly and outwardly with respect thereto, whereby improved transfer of molten metal continuously from a furnace to an ingot may be achieved with the dross passing off in the liquid metal overflow spout and the molten metal continuously passing to the ingot, whereby improved flow of the metal is achieved.

3. A ladle structure for molten metal and including a receptacle, a pouring spout on said receptacle for conducting molten metal to molds, trunnions on said receptacle, a yoke pivotally mounted upon a base member and including a pair of opposed, spaced, upwardly projecting, arms, each of said arms being provided with an elongated slot generally horizontally disposed, and generally vertically extending slot intersecting said elongated slot intermediate the ends thereof and extending to an edge of the respective arm to allow removal of the receptacle from the i yoke, the slots provided in one said arm being generally opposed to the slots in the other, said trunnions being journalled in said slots whereby said ladle may be pivotally and longitudinally displaced in order to position said pouring spout properly with respect to the mold to be poured.

4. A ladle structure as defined in claim 3 in which said ladle is mounted in the wall of a furnace, said pouring spout being elongated to allow molten metal to be transferred directly from said furnace to the mold to be poured.

5. A ladle structure as defined in claim 4 in which a dross spout is provided on said ladle, said spout having at least a portion thereof located above the level of said pouring spout when the receptacle is in an upright position, said dross spout being so located with respect to said furnace as to allow the dross to fiow into said furnace.

6. A ladle structure for the continuous transfer of molten metal from a furnace to an ingot and for drawing off dross during such transfer, said ladle structure including a generally concave body, means for continuously feeding molten metal into the concave body, a pouring spout in fluid communication with the concave body, the pouring spout intersecting the concave body at a position below the normal level of the molten metal in the concave body when the ladle structure is disposed in pouring position, a dross discharge spout in fluid communication with the concave body, the dross discharge spout having at least a portion thereof disposed below the normal level of the molten metal in the concave body but above the level of the pouring spout when the ladle structure is disposed in pouring position, trunnions on said concave body, and a rotatably mounted yoke structure having a pair of spaced upright supports, a trunnion bearing in each of said supports, each of said trunnion bearings having a substantially vertical slot adapted to permit the trunnion to be lowered and raised therein, the lower end of said trunnion having means to permit the ladle to be supported in said yoke for substantially horizontal movement with respect thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 124,076 North Feb. 27, 1872 623,073 Burt Apr. 11, 1899 1,521,317 Pough Dec. 30, 1924 1,603,900 Browne Oct. 19, 1926 1,884,637 Feehan Oct. 25, 1932 2,522,031 Gavin Sept. 12, 1950 2,828,516 Black Apr. 1, 1958 

